red lobster

went to red lobster last night, to spend some xmas gift certificates.

i just don't get red lobster.

the service sucks, the food sucks, the only beers they have on tap are "bud light" and "red hook", the broccoli that you can get instead of "rice pilaf" comes out of a freezer bag, the ambiance is a television playing "wheel of fortune", and the shrimps are variously buttery, bready, or greasy enough to be overly filling.

none of this is bad without the presence of this troubling fact: it's expensive. very expensive. most dishes are upwards of $15.

this is mysterious to me. i realize that the red lobster is not an upper class destination, however, the night before, we dined right in the heart of the bay area ghetto: menlo park. dinner at back-a-yard was less than 15 bucks a person, you get good service, food that is out of this world (or at least, out of this continent), the freshest ingredients, and fried foods that aren't too greasy and don't mask the flavors of the food.

i seriously don't understand how red lobster perseveres. what's that, you say? you can't get shrimp scampi at back-a-yard? well, this is true, but it's the gorram bay area, you can get seafood anywhere, and all of it will be better and cheaper than red lobster, with optional fresh broccoli.

the place baffles me, seriously.